__________		I was giving some thought to the upcoming day of prayer on Oct. 2nd, and was re-reading a section on prayer in a book called “The Sovereignty of God” by A.W. Pink. (One chapter out of many great chapters on this subject of God’s sovereignty). I thought I might take the time to share with you some of the points on prayer that he makes to help all of us become more focused as prayer warriors for the advancement of God’s purpose and God’s kingdom. Make no doubt about it, God’s purpose and kingdom is advancing and will continue to advance with or without us! Personally, I am looking forward to staying on the winning side! So what is God’s will and purpose for our prayer life? Does prayer really change things? And if God already knows what we need before we ask, why bother at all?   I: Does prayer really change things? Eph. 1:11b “….according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will“ and also Eph. 3:11 makes mention of God’s “eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord”. There are many other verses throughout Scripture that address the subjects of God’s eternal purpose and Him needing no input from us on how to run things. Romans 11:34 states “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?” Certainly not me! Why then does God command us to pray?   *That God should be honored as the only one who can meet our needs and as Pink says, acknowledge his “universal dominion”.   *That our prayer is an act of worship: Christ even said that the temple was a house of prayer (not sacrifice of animals).   *Prayer brings glory to God because we admit our dependency on Him.   *Prayer is the place where we find spitual food and blessing! Ps. 116:1 says: I love thee Lord because He has heard my voice and my supplication.” and given us many times over what we have asked for). Through prayer we grow in the grace and knowledge (experience) of God. 　 II: Matthew 6:8 says your father knows what thing you need before you ask Him. So why ask?   *Let me quote this word for word from Pink’s book. He says it much better than I: “Prayer is not for the purpose of informing God as if He were ignorant (Matt 6:8),, but it is to acknowledge He does know what we are in need of” prayer is designed as a confession to Him of our sense of need. He is honored by the asking and His is to be thanked for His answer.   *We are commanded by God to pray (Ithess 5:17, Luke 18:1, Jas 5:15,16)   *God decrees are unchangeable/eternal. He is immutable. God’s decrees the means as well as the ends of all things. “The prayers of His people are what God has included in His eternal decrees”. “If indeed all things happen by blind chance or a fatal necessity, prayers in that case could be of no moral efficacy, and of no use; but since they are regulated by the direction of divine wisdom, prayers have a place in the order of events.” (Haldane). Example: Elijah knew God was about to give rain, but he prayed anyway (Jas 5:17,18). Example: Daniel “understood” the captivity to last 70 years when time got close he fasted and prayed (Dan 9:2,3) just the same.   *When we pray, it has to be in accordance with God’s will “if we ask anything according to His will, He will hear us, and grant it. This is an act of submission to God and again honoring Him and lifting Him up to His proper place by your very act of submitting.   In conclusion, let me quote A.W. Pink one last time and give you his definition of prayer: “Prayer is not for the requesting of God to alter His purpose or for Him to form a new one. Prayer is the taking of an attitude of dependency upon God, the spreading of our needs before Him, the asking for those things which are in accordance with His will, and therefore there is nothing whatever inconsistent between divine sovereignty and Christian prayer.”   Martin Luther said “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness”.   Let us pray!   Earl _____